Patent Application
20090123117
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical fiber connector, and more particularly to an optical fiber connector with improved fastening member and for being stably mounted to a Printed Circuit Board (PCB).
2. Description of Related Art
Present day telecommunication technology utilizes, to an increasing extent, optical fibers for signal transmission. The use of optical fibers, in turn, requires numerous collateral components especially adapted to handle the light or optical transmissions, among which are optical fiber connectors.
Optical fiber connectors for making connections between digital audio systems normally mate with a ferrule on a terminating end of the fiber. The ferrule is for alignment and support of the fiber made from glass or plastic. The ferrule is inserted into a receiving hole of a housing of the optical fiber connector. Examples of optical fiber connector that connects with a plastic fiber terminated in a ferrule include: i) the F07 Duplex Plastic Fiber System from AMP; ii) the SMI (small Muti-media Interface) Connector from Sony Corporation; and iii) the HFBR series of plastic fiber connectors from Hewlett Packard. To ensure performance of the optical connector, a door need to be provided to prevent dust and vapor in the air from entering the receiving hole of the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,905,254 B2, issued on Jun. 14, 2005, discloses such an optical fiber connector which comprises an insulative housing, an insert body received in the insulative housing, a door member rotatably mounted in the insert body, an optical element received in the insulative housing and shielded by the door member, and a spacer fixed to the insulative housing. The insulative housing and the spacer includes mateable keys so that they can be fixed together. However, the mateable keys are both rigid as a result that the keys may suffer great engaging force, which can result in damage of the insulative housing. Besides, the insulative housing and the spacer may become flexible after multiple use because of the rigid locking between the keys.
Hence, an improved optical fiber connector is desired to overcome the above problems.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical fiber connector with elastic fixation between an insulative housing and a fastening member for strong structure and easy assembly.
Another object of the present invention to provide an optical fiber connector for being stably mounted to a PCB.
In order to obtain the object above, an optical fiber connector includes an insulative housing defining a receiving chamber, an optical fiber member received in the receiving chamber, a door pivotably mounted in the insulative housing, an elastic spring abutting against the door, and a fastening member fixed to the insulative housing. The insulative housing defines a receiving space communicating with the receiving chamber and a protrusion protruding into the receiving space. The insulative housing further includes a mounting post extending beyond a rear side thereof for mounting the optical fiber connector to a PCB. The mounting post defines a through hole further extending through a front side of the insulative housing in condition that the through hole is located at corner location of the insulative housing. The optical fiber member includes an optical receiving portion and a plurality of contacts electrically connected with the optical receiving portion. The fastening member is received in the receiving space to abut against the optical receiving portion. The fastening member includes a main portion covering the optical receiving portion, an extension extending from the main portion, and an elastic arm located below the extension. The extension is fastened to the insulative housing. The elastic arm has a hook on a distal end thereof to flexible abut against the protrusion.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention.
For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without such specific details. In other instances, well-known circuits have been shown in block diagram form in order not to obscure the present invention in unnecessary detail. For the most part, details concerning timing considerations and the like have been omitted inasmuch as such details are not necessary to obtain a complete understanding of the present invention and are within the skills of persons of ordinary skill in the relevant art.
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The insulative housing 1 includes a first column shaped mounting post 19 located on top and right corner thereof. A through hole 190 is recessed from the mounting post 19 and further extending through the front surface 110. Each side wall 14 includes a pair of protuberances 140 and a guiding recess 141 located between the protuberances 140. The bottom wall 13 defines a plurality of slits 130 communicating with the receiving space 16 for mating with the fastening member 5 which will be detailed hereinafter.
The optical fiber member 2 includes an optical receiving portion 20 received in the receiving chamber 170 and a plurality of contacts 21 electrically connected with the optical receiving portion 20. Each contact 21 includes a vertical portion 22 and a tail portion 23 perpendicular to the vertical portion 22.
The elastic spring 3 includes opposite circles 31, a U-shaped fixed portion 32 connecting the circles 31, and a pair of pressure portions 33 extending from the circles 31, respectively.
The fastening member 5 includes a slant-shaped main portion 50 and an extension 51 extending forwardly and horizontally from the main portion 50. The main portion 50 includes a pair of contractive projections 52 for being received in the slot 18 of the insulative housing 1 and a second column shaped mounting post 54. The pair of first and second mounting posts 19, 54 extend beyond the rear mounting surface 101 for corporately mounting the optical fiber connector 100 to the PCB. The fastening member 5 further includes a cantilevered elastic arm 53 located below the extension 51 and form a gap 532 between the elastic arm 53 and the extension 51. The gap 532 provides a space for deformation of the elastic arm 53 when the fastening member 5 is inserted into the receiving space 16. The elastic arm 53 is located between the pair of projections 52 and includes a hook 530 at a distal end thereof. The hook 530 and the protrusion 173 have mateable inclined surfaces 531, 174, respectively, so that the fastening member 5 can be easily inserted into the receiving space 16. The main portion 50 further includes a bottom section 501 which includes a pair of ribs 500 extending outwardly from opposite sides thereof and a plurality of blocks 502 protruding downwardly.
Regarding
In assembly, the opposite circles 31 of the elastic spring 3 are attached to the pair of shafts 40 of the door 4 to combine a door member which will be received in the cavity 15 through the slot 18. The optical receiving portion 20 is received in the receiving chamber 170. The tail portions 23 are located in the slits 130 and further extend beyond the rear mounting surface 101 to be soldered to the PCB. The fastening member 5 is inserted into the receiving space 16 with the inclined surfaces 531, 174 guiding each other. The elastic arm 53 deforms in the gap 532 and then abuts against the protrusion 173 so that the fastening member 5 can be flexibly fixed to the insulative housing 1. Besides, the latches 160 of the insulative housing 1 abut against the ribs 500 for further fixation. The blocks 502 are received in the slits 130 to press the tail portions 23. The metal shell 6 is fixed to the insulative housing 1. The circle hole 611 communicates with the through hole 190 of the insulative housing 1. When the optical fiber connector 100 is mounted to the PCB, the rear mounting surface 101 is attached to the PCB and the first and the second mounting posts 19, 54 are inserted into through holes (not shown) in the PCB. For more firmly assembly, a bolt (not shown) is fastened through the circle hole 611 and the through hole 190 to the insulative housing 1.
It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous, characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set fourth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosed is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of number, shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200720042133.0 | Nov 2007 | CN | national |
